Soldier denies sex after drinks was rape

EMMA HORSLEY

Last updated 12:00 20/11/2012

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A Linton Military Camp soldier is on trial charged with rape after a night of drinking and dancing on St Patrick's Day turned sour.

The trial of army private Devon Dwayne Fraser, 21, of New Plymouth, for allegedly raping a fellow soldier in a Linton barracks room after a night of drinking, began in the Palmerston North District Court yesterday.

In her opening address, Crown prosecutor Esme Killeen told the court Fraser would not take no for an answer. He had entered a female barracks and the room where the victim was sleeping, and raped her.

Fraser's lawyer, Fergus Steedman, told the jury his client admitted intercourse took place but denied it was rape.

"No one said ‘no'," he said.

Fraser met his alleged victim in the Highflyers nightclub where she was drinking and dancing with a group of friends after a party at the Linton housing area. The pair knew each other, having first met on pre-deployment army training.

When being questioned by Ms Killeen, the woman said she "was pretty wasted" and it would have been obvious that she was drunk as she had consumed several RTDs and "a couple of beers" before going into the city about midnight.

She admitted dancing with Fraser and kissing him several times but said she told him she had a partner and knew he had a girlfriend.

"So I told him it wasn't going to go any further than that," she said.

She said she told Fraser she wasn't interested in pursuing anything further when the group left the club after it closed and they all went back to Linton.

Fraser has been stood down from duties on full pay until the outcome of the trial. The woman, who is still in the army, is no longer based at Linton.